Let’s have a war!

[jfish26]

L.A. ballerina sentenced to 12 years in Russian penal colony for Ukraine donation

12 years…for an apparent $51.80 donation to a Ukrainian charity in the US

Was...was the charity nazis?

[ousdahl]

Not even a nibble.

It was the kind of outlandish scheme that might bubble up in a bar around closing time.

In May of 2022, a handful of senior Ukrainian military officers and businessmen had gathered to toast their country’s remarkable success in halting the Russian invasion. Buoyed by alcohol and patriotic fervor, somebody suggested a radical next step: destroying Nord Stream.

After all, the twin natural-gas pipelines that carried Russian gas to Europe were providing billions to the Kremlin war machine. What better way to make Vladimir Putin pay for his aggression?

Just over four months later, in the small hours of Sept. 26, Scandinavian seismologists picked up signals indicating an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption hundreds of miles away, near the Danish island of Bornholm. They were caused by three powerful explosions and the largest-ever recorded release of natural gas, equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of Denmark. One of the most audacious acts of sabotage in modern history, the operation worsened an energy crisis in Europe—an assault on critical infrastructure that could be considered an act of war under international law. Theories swirled about who was responsible. Was it the CIA? Could Putin himself have set the plan in motion?

Now, for the first time, the outlines of the real story can be told. The Ukrainian operation cost around $300,000, according to people who participated in it. It involved a small rented yacht with a six-member crew, including trained civilian divers. One was a woman, whose presence helped create the illusion they were a group of friends on a pleasure cruise.

“I always laugh when I read media speculation about some huge operation involving secret services, submarines, drones and satellites,” one officer who was involved in the plot said. “The whole thing was born out of a night of heavy boozing and the iron determination of a handful of people who had the guts to risk their lives for their country.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially approved the plan, according to one officer who participated and three people familiar with it. But later, when the CIA learned of it and asked the Ukrainian president to pull the plug, he ordered a halt, those people said.

Zelensky’s commander in chief, Valeriy Zaluzhniy, who was leading the effort, nonetheless forged ahead.

The Journal spoke to four senior Ukrainian defense and security officials who either participated in or had direct knowledge of the plot. All of them said the pipelines were a legitimate target in Ukraine’s war of defense against Russia.

Portions of their account were corroborated by a nearly two-year German police investigation into the attack, which has obtained evidence including email, mobile and satellite phones communications, as well as fingerprints and DNA samples from the alleged sabotage team. The Germany inquiry hasn’t directly linked President Zelensky to the clandestine operation.

Gen. Zaluzhniy, now Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, said in a text exchange that he knows nothing of any such operation and that any suggestion to the contrary is a “mere provocation.” Ukraine’s armed forces, he added, weren’t authorized to conduct overseas missions, and he therefore wouldn’t have been involved.

A senior official of the main Ukrainian intelligence service, SBU, denied his government had anything to do with the sabotage, and said that Zelensky in particular “did not approve the implementation of any such actions on the territory of third countries and did not issue relevant orders.”

Putin has publicly blamed the U.S. for the attacks. A senior Russian diplomat in Berlin echoed that claim, and said the German investigation findings were “fairy tales worthy of the Brothers Grimm.” In June, Germany’s federal prosecutor quietly issued the first arrest warrant in the case for a Ukrainian professional diving instructor for his alleged involvement in the sabotage. The German investigation is now focusing on Zaluzhniy and his aides, people familiar with the probe say, although they have no evidence that could be presented in court.

The findings could upend relations between Kyiv and Berlin, which has provided much of the financing and military equipment to Ukraine, second only to the U.S. Some German political leaders may have been willing to overlook evidence pointing to Ukraine for fear of undermining domestic support for the war effort. But German police are politically independent and their investigation took on a life of its own as they pursued one lead after another.

“An attack of this scale is a sufficient reason to trigger the collective defense clause of NATO, but our critical infrastructure was blown up by a country that we support with massive weapons shipments and billions in cash,” said a senior German official familiar with the probe.

Following the May 2022 pact between the businessmen and the military officers, it was agreed that the former would finance and help execute the project, because the army had no funds and was increasingly relying on foreign financing as it pushed back against the onslaught of its gargantuan neighbor. A sitting general with experience in special operations would oversee the mission, which one participant described as a “public-private partnership.” He would report directly to the head of Ukraine’s armed forces, the four-star Gen. Zaluzhniy.

Within days, Zelensky approved the plan, according to the four people familiar with the plot. All arrangements were made verbally, leaving no paper trail.

But the next month, the Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD learned of the plot and warned the CIA, according to several people familiar with the Dutch report. U.S. officials then promptly informed Germany, according to U.S. and German officials.

The CIA warned Zelensky’s office to stop the operation, U.S. officials said. The Ukrainian president then ordered Zalyzhniy to halt it, according to Ukrainian officers and officials familiar with the conversation as well as Western intelligence officials. But the general ignored the order, and his team modified the original plan, these people said.

The general tasked with commanding the operation enlisted some of Ukraine’s top special-operations officers with experience in orchestrating high-risk clandestine missions against Russia to help coordinate the attack. One of them was Roman Chervinsky, a decorated colonel who previously served in Ukraine’s main security and intelligence service, the SBU.

Chervinsky is currently on trial in Ukraine for unrelated charges. In July, he was released on bail after over a year in detention. Reached after his release, he declined to comment on the Nord Stream case, saying he wasn’t authorized to speak about it.

In a subsequent broadcast interview, he said that the sabotage had two positive effects for Ukraine: It helped loosen Russia’s grip on the European countries supporting Kyiv, and it left Moscow with only one main avenue for channeling gas to Europe, pipelines traversing Ukraine. Despite the war, Ukraine collects lucrative transit fees for Russian oil and gas estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Chervinsky and the sabotage team initially studied an older, elaborate plan to blow up the pipeline drafted by Ukrainian intelligence and Western experts after Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, according to people familiar with the plot.

https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/nord-s ... y-da24839c

[japhy]

It's a Game Changer Bitches!

Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia's Chechnya region, posted a video on Saturday of himself driving a Tesla Cybertruck equipped with what appeared to be a machine gun on top.

In a post on Telegram, Kadyrov praised the vehicle and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, while also suggesting that the EV would be used in the Ukraine war.

"We received a Tesla Cybertruck from the esteemed Elon Musk. I was pleased to test this new technology and personally witnessed why it's rightfully called the 'Cyberbeast,'" he wrote, according to a translation.

"The Cybertruck will soon be sent to the SVO zone, where it will be in demand under the appropriate conditions. I am confident that this 'beast' will greatly benefit our soldiers," he added. SVO is a reference to the "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Fuck Yeah, Kadyrov rollin onto the field of battle in a Tesla. Elon should join him.

[KUTradition]

he better pray for good weather

[TDub]

hilarious

[KUTradition]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna167157

[jfish26]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna167157

“I’m sure he joined the Russian army because he didn’t want to register as a sex offender,” the guy’s lawyer said.

[Sparko]

Bad decisions compound over time

[KUTradition]

russia now offering “safe haven” for anyone wanting to escape “neo-liberal” politics

[twocoach]

russia now offering “safe haven” for anyone wanting to escape “neo-liberal” politics

Anyone heard from the Feenstra's since they posted, and then deleted, a video about how disappointed they were in Russia since they moved there to escape gay people, er..... “LGBT ideology”?

"Arend and Anneesa Feenstra, a couple from Canada who moved to Russia this year with their eight children to get away from “LGBT ideology”, ran into difficulties when their bank accounts were frozen. Anneesa posted an angry video to YouTube saying that she was “disappointed” in Russia and was ready to “jump on a plane and get out of here”. The couple, who remain in Russia, later deleted the video and apologised."

https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-u ... -k9975x2nj

[jhawks99]

Have your bank accounts frozen AND get drafted.

[twocoach]

It will be interesting to see if anything will come of the fact that it is being reported that Trump reached out to Netanyahu, asking him not to agree to a ceasefire. Seems to be a clear violation of the Logan Act

https://newrepublic.com/post/185076/don ... -ceasefire

“The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the Prime Minister of Israel, urging him not to cut a deal right now, because it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign,” said PBS’s Judy Woodruff Monday night. “So, I don’t know where—who knows whether that will come about or not, but I have to think that the Harris campaign would like for President Biden to do what presidents do, and that’s to work on that one.”

Uh, yeah, that is against the law.

[jfish26]

It will be interesting to see if anything will come of the fact that it is being reported that Trump reached out to Netanyahu, asking him not to agree to a ceasefire. Seems to be a clear violation of the Logan Act

https://newrepublic.com/post/185076/don ... -ceasefire

“The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the Prime Minister of Israel, urging him not to cut a deal right now, because it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign,” said PBS’s Judy Woodruff Monday night. “So, I don’t know where—who knows whether that will come about or not, but I have to think that the Harris campaign would like for President Biden to do what presidents do, and that’s to work on that one.”

Uh, yeah, that is against the law.

I do not think it is an exaggeration at all to say that Trump would contend that since the 2020 election was stolen from him, he is immune from prosecution for this.

[jhawks99]

It will be interesting to see if anything will come of the fact that it is being reported that Trump reached out to Netanyahu, asking him not to agree to a ceasefire. Seems to be a clear violation of the Logan Act

https://newrepublic.com/post/185076/don ... -ceasefire

“The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the Prime Minister of Israel, urging him not to cut a deal right now, because it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign,” said PBS’s Judy Woodruff Monday night. “So, I don’t know where—who knows whether that will come about or not, but I have to think that the Harris campaign would like for President Biden to do what presidents do, and that’s to work on that one.”

Uh, yeah, that is against the law.

It worked for Nixon and Reagan, no consequences for them.

[defixione]

A little sabotage right under our nose.

[Shirley]

It will be interesting to see if anything will come of the fact that it is being reported that Trump reached out to Netanyahu, asking him not to agree to a ceasefire. Seems to be a clear violation of the Logan Act

https://newrepublic.com/post/185076/don ... -ceasefire

“The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the Prime Minister of Israel, urging him not to cut a deal right now, because it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign,” said PBS’s Judy Woodruff Monday night. “So, I don’t know where—who knows whether that will come about or not, but I have to think that the Harris campaign would like for President Biden to do what presidents do, and that’s to work on that one.”

Uh, yeah, that is against the law.

It worked for Nixon and Reagan, no consequences for them.

^^^

It has become a Republican tradition to betray our country by violating the Logan Act.

[jfish26]

A little sabotage right under our nose.

Meanwhile, Trump is already tacitly conceding that he is going to lose - and then mobilize his goons. White-, blue- and no-collar.

[Sparko]

Biden needs to threaten his ass with jail time. Sofa boy as well. I have zero fucks to give for insurrectionists and Nazis.

[jfish26]

Biden needs to threaten his ass with jail time. Sofa boy as well. I have zero fucks to give for insurrectionists and Nazis.

Proportionality is important. And a very rational thing to do - which, to be clear, will not happen here - would be for a judge in front of whom Trump is facing charges of, say, conspiracy to defraud the United States, to consider bail conditions in light of a person's illegal conduct of foreign policy on behalf of the United States.

At a very minimum, it is astonishing to me that he still has a passport.

* Edited to correct typo, "like" became "light."

[KUTradition]

Venezuela-bound…

(comments that should be quite telling to the electorate, but which seem to have not gotten near enough attention)